Despite passage of his signature health reform bill, President Barack Obama still gets a split
45 - 46 percent approval from American voters in a Quinnipiac University national poll
conducted Monday and Tuesday, compared to a negative 46 - 49 percent approval in a survey
concluded Sunday before the House of Representatives voted on the health care bill. These are
President Obama's worst grades so far, tying his 45 - 46 percent approval February 11.

American voters mostly disapprove of the health care reform 49 - 40 percent, compared
to 54 - 36 percent before the vote. But voters say 51 - 40 percent that proposed action by
several state attorneys general to block the health care overhaul is a "bad idea," the independent
Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

And voters trust Obama more than Republicans in Congress to handle health care 45 - 35
percent, compared to a 42 - 42 percent split before the House vote.

Voters say they are more likely to support lawmakers in the November election who
voted against the measure and oppose legislators who supported it.

Voters still disapprove 55 - 36 percent of the way Democrats in Congress are doing their
job, compared to 62 - 30 percent in the earlier survey. Republicans in Congress get a 58 - 34
percent disapproval, compared to a 60 - 31 percent thumbs down in the earlier survey.

"It may be that passage of health care eventually helps President Barack Obama's
approval ratings, but at this point there's no sign of that," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director
of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "The White House believes that now that the
legislation has been signed into law they can sell it to the American people. Approval of health
care reform is growing - or disapproval is shrinking - but the President still has his work cut out
for him."

"Republicans are making clear they will make opposition to the health care overhaul their
issue for November and the data indicates at this point they may have an opening, but they need
to be careful not to overplay their hand," Brown added. "For instance, as much as voters say
they don't like the new health care law, they also don't like the idea that Republican attorneys
generals in a number of states are trying to challenge the law on constitutional grounds.

"And disapproval of Republicans in Congress is slightly worse than disapproval of
Democrats."

In the poll conducted after the health care vote, American voters disapprove 50 - 44
percent of the way President Obama is handling health care, compared to 58 - 36 percent
disapproval in the earlier survey taken before the House vote.

While 28 percent of voters think more favorably of Obama because of his handling of
health care reform, 41 percent think less favorably and 29 percent say this issue doesn't make a
difference in how they feel.

By a 38 - 25 percent margin, voters are less likely to vote for House members who voted
for the health care bill, with 34 percent who say the health care vote won't affect their decision.

By a 33 - 27 percent margin, voters are more likely to vote for House members who
voted against the health care bill, with 35 percent who say the health care vote won't affect their
decision.

"The first read from the voters is that they are more inclined to punish those lawmakers
who voted for the health care overhaul than reward them," Brown said. "This is a key question.
Whether and how these numbers change in the next seven months will tell us whether, in fact,
this will be the kind of November Republicans are hungering for and Democrats are dreading."

From March 16 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,907 registered voters nationwide
with a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points.

From March 22 - 23, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,552 registered voters nationwide
with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as
President?

TREND: From what you've heard or read, do you mostly approve or mostly
disapprove of the changes to the health care system just passed by Congress?
(*the proposed changes... under consideration in Congress)

13. Attorneys general from several states have said they will sue to block the
recently passed healthcare overhaul plan. Do you think filing a lawsuit to stop
the plan from taking effect is a good idea or a bad idea?

28. Some people have suggested eliminating the filibuster procedure in the U.S.
Senate so that all that would be needed to pass legislation would be a simple
majority of votes, 51 out of 100. Do you think that is a good idea or a bad
idea?

36. Do you think the government should or should not require all Americans to
have health insurance, either from their employer or from another source, with
tax credits or other aid to help low-income people pay for it?

38. Which would you prefer - A) the Democrats in the Senate pass the health care
reform legislation by a majority vote, or B) the Republicans in the Senate use a
filibuster to block passage of the heath care reform legislation?

39. If your member of Congress votes for the health care overhaul under
consideration in Congress would that make you more likely to vote for him or her
in November, less likely, or not make a difference?